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Commitment to Diversity

The Graduate School is dedicated to and benefits from a student population diverse in background, culture, socioeconomic status, race, ethnicity, and work and life experiences that contributes to a fuller representation of perspectives within the academic life of the university. As part of a larger institutional commitment to promoting a diverse student body, we encourage applications from all sectors of society, including prospective students whose life experiences may include the challenge of access due to a disability.

We are proud of our graduate students who over the years have gone on to assume national leadership positions in many fields. Our long-standing commitment to diversity has recently been recognized by the American Historical Association (AHA),which named The Graduate School a 2015 recipient of the AHA Equity Award for its efforts in recruiting and supporting students from underrepresented groups. From 1993 to 2013, 36 students from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups earned doctorates in history at Duke, including 28 African Americans. More than 90 percent of the African American graduates are tenured or in tenure-track positions at institutions such as Harvard, North Carolina State University, Rice, University of Michigan, and Williams College.

As part of our long-standing commitment to increase the diversity and quality of our graduate student body, The Graduate School works to

increase enrollment of students from traditionally underrepresented groups,

provide students with sufficient funding to complete their graduate studies in a timely manner, and

promote an academic and social environment where these scholars can flourish

The Graduate School also demonstrates its commitment to diversity and inclusion through continued staff training, workshops, and exercises. Past workshops have included: Diversity Training with the Center for Muslim Life, "Ally Training" with the Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity, "Coming to America" with International House, and "Implicit Bias Workshop" with the Office of Institutional Equity.

Acknowledgement
In constructing these webpages on diversity and inclusion for faculty, staff, and students, Duke has benefited enormously from other institutions with well-established diversity and inclusion webpages and resources. We wish to acknowledge the following resources that contributed to the building of these pages:

"Enhancing the Minority Presence in Graduate Education IV: Models and Resources for Minority Student Recruitment and Retention," published by the Council of Graduate Schools in 1992, authored by Jacqueline Looney, Senior Associate Dean and Associate Vice Provost.